Burnley Blues Festival 1999 - Brian Wood reports

THE weather was set fair. The atmosphere was carnival-like and yes, the 11th Burnley National Blues Festival was under way.

With the advent of a stronger than ever fringe programme, especially at the Comfort Friendly Hotel, early acts set the scene for what should be a memorable weekend.

And in true tradition, one of the finest British blues acts ever came on first to kick off the proceedings.

Let me make this clear from the outset, Sonny Black is quite simply the most elegant, technically perfect and sophisticated guitarists around today - bar none!

Having rubbed shoulders with Clapton, Green, Kossoff and many more over the years, I can truly say that Black stands up there with them.

Languid, jazz-infected phrasing, whether it be traditional or contemporary material, is his forte.

The Dukes are pretty remarkable too, especially Daniel Smith on keyboard, who is our brightest of ivory tinklers at present. Over at the Comfort Friendly, they had four fab acts of differing styles, but all just splendid and the place was packed.

Local bands The Ducks and Slack Alice (getting even funkier a la Little Feat at times) were special, as was young guitar hopeful Monty Turnbull and his band - Monty being of the axe histrionics school but with taste. The Motel Kings, the Texas boogie band, strutted their stuff and were dynamic in every department.

Talking of dynamic, Canadian vocalist/harp player Jordan Patterson was pretty much unheard of when he took the stage and was a star when he departed. This man is sheer class with a gorgeous soul-tinged voice and great repartee - a real star.

Finally on the main stage was Johnny Bassett and the Blues Insurgents, full of irresistible Detroit vibes and BB King licks, this man has paid his dues all right and his band have the "knowledge" too. 'We're gonna get high' could have been the evening's signature tune.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.